Process for producing cumene

ABSTRACT

This cumene process involves contacting, in an alkylation zone, a first benzene recycle stream and a propylene feed stream with an alkylation catalyst to form cumene. In a transalkylation zone, a polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream and a second benzene recycle stream are contacted with a transalkylation catalyst to form additional cumene. The effluents are passed into a benzene distillation column. From the benzene distillation column, a first benzene recycle stream is removed as overhead; a second benzene recycle stream is removed as a side draw; and a bottoms stream comprising polyisopropylbenzene, cumene, and heavy aromatics is removed from an end. The bottoms stream is passed to a dividing wall distillation column where the polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream is removed from an intermediate point; a cumene product stream is removed from a first end, and a heavy aromatic stream is removed from a second end.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to a process for producing cumene where the product is separated from the reaction mixture using a dividing wall distillation column.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cumene, or isopropylbenzene, is a valuable product that is used mainly for the manufacture of phenol and acetone. Cumene has been produced by a catalytic process using a solid phosphoric acid that is made by impregnating kieselguhr with phosphoric acid. Now, zeolitic catalysts are used to produce higher quality cumene at a lower investment cost.

In a typical commercial process for the production of cumene, liquid benzene and liquid propylene are charged into an alkylation zone containing one or more reactors containing an alkylation catalyst. In order to minimize the production of polyalkylated products of benzene it has been the practice to maintain a molar excess of benzene throughout the reaction zone ranging from about 4:1 to about 16:1, and more preferably about 8:1 of benzene to propylene. Two competing reactions with the desired production of isopropylbenzene have created problems in some commercial processes. One of these has been the formation of polyalkylated benzenes such as di- and triisopropylbenzene rather than the desired monoalkylated product. This competing reaction may be partially controlled by employing large molar excesses of benzene. However, a transalkylation reactor is employed to react polyalkylated benzenes with benzene to form additional cumene. The other competing reaction causing losses in the yield of cumene based on propylene reactant charged is the formation of oligomers of propylene such as propylene dimer and trimer which occur to a limited extent even with the large molar excesses of benzene present. Propylene trimers and some of the propylene tetramers boil with cumene. Since the presence of these olefins interfere with the oxidation reaction used to make phenol from cumene, this oligomerization side reaction must be minimized to make a high purity product.

The alkylator and transalkylator effluents undergo separation operations to separate benzene, cumene product, polyisopropylbenzene, and by-product streams using distillation columns. Traditionally three distillation columns are used. The first is typically a benzene column, used to recover excess benzene from the reactor effluents. The benzene column overhead, which is largely benzene, is typically recycled to the alkylator and transalkylator. The second distillation column is typically a cumene column used to recover the cumene product from the benzene column bottoms. The cumene product is typically the net overhead from the cumene column. The cumene product may be used in applications such as phenol or acetone processes, or may be sent to storage. The third distillation column is usually a polyisopropylbenzene column used to recover polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream from the cumene column bottoms. Polyisopropylbenzene is recovered as overhead from the polyisopropylbenzene column and is typically recycled to the transalkylator. The high boiling bottoms, the heavy ends, is usually cooled and sent to storage.

Current process flow schemes are improved by replacing the benzene column and the cumene column with a single dividing wall column. The resulting advantages include a significant savings in the energy requirement and the total number of stages, a higher cumene purity and a reduction in benzene loss. Additional advantages include a reduction in capital costs associated with the reduced number of stages, reduction in exchanger surface area, and a reduction in the equipment count.

The dividing wall or Petyluk configuration for fractionation columns was initially introduced some 50 years ago by Petyluk et al. A recent commercialization of a fractionation column employing this technique prompted more recent investigations as described in the article appearing at page s14 of a Supplement to The Chemical Engineer, , 27 Aug. 1992.

The use of dividing wall columns in the separation of hydrocarbons is also described in the patent literature. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,471,134 issued to R. O. Wright describes the use of a dividing wall column in the separation of light hydrocarbons ranging from methane to butane. U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,533 issued to V. A. Giroux describes a control system for a dividing wall column and illustrates the use of the claimed invention in the separation of aromatics comprising benzene, toluene and orthoxylene.

Using a dividing wall column in the a cumene production process provides significant advantages over cumene production processes that do not employ a dividing wall fractionation column, as shown below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A cumene generation process using a dividing wall fractionation zone has been developed. The process involves contacting, in an alkylation zone, a feed stream comprising at least propylene and a first benzene recycle stream comprising at least benzene with an alkylation catalyst under alkylation conditions to convert at least a portion of the propylene and benzene into cumene and form an alkylation zone effluent comprising benzene and cumene. Also, in a transalkylation zone, a polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream comprising at least polyisopropylbenzene and a second benzene recycle stream comprising at least benzene are contacted with a transalkylation catalyst under transalkylation conditions to convert at least a portion of the polyisopropylbenzene and benzene into cumene and form a transalkylation zone effluent comprising benzene and cumene. The alkylation zone effluent and the transalkylation zone effluent are passed into a benzene fractionation column which is operated at fractionation conditions. The components of the effluents are separated into an overhead stream which is the first benzene recycle stream, a side draw stream which is the second benzene recycle stream and a bottoms stream comprising cumene, polyisopropylbenzene, and heavy aromatics.

The bottoms stream from the benzene fractionation column is passed to a dividing wall fractionation column which is operated at fractionation conditions. The dividing wall fractionation column is divided into at least a first and a second parallel fractionation zone by a dividing wall, with the first and the second fractionation zones each having an upper and a lower end located within the fractionation column, with the first and second fractionation zones being in open communication at their upper ends with an undivided upper section of the fractionation column and in open communication at their lower ends with an undivided lower section of the fractionation column. The bottoms stream from the benzene fractionation column enters the dividing wall column at an intermediate point of the first fractionation zone.

A stream comprising polyisopropylbenzene is removed from an intermediate point of the second fractionation zone of the dividing wall fractionation column to generate the polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream which is recycled to the transalkylation reactor. A net cunene overhead stream is removed from a first end of the dividing wall fractionation column and may be collected as product. A net heavy aromatics stream is removed from a second end of the dividing wall fractionation column.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The FIGURE is a schematic illustration of one embodiment of the present invention. The FIGURE does not show a number of details for the process arrangement such as pumps, compressors, valves, stabilizers and recycle lines which are well known to those skilled in the art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the Figure, the process of the invention requires two reactors, an alKylation reactor 2, or alkylator, and a transalkylation reactor 4, or transalkylator. Propylene and benzene feedstocks 6 and an excess of benzene 8 from a first benzene recycle stream are introduced to alkylator 2. A typical propylene feedstock may be an almost pure polymer grade material or can contain significant amounts of propane, as typically found in refinery-grade propylene. A typical benzene feedstock may contain benzene (99.9 wt.-% min.) and toluene (0.05 wt.-% min). Alkylation reactors may be operated in the vapor phase, liquid-phase or mixed-phase. It is preferred to operate the alkylation reactor in the liquid phase. At the lower temperatures of the liquid phase operation, xylene impurities are not produced and a cumene product of superior quality is produced. Alkylation reactor 2 contains an effective amount of alkylation catalyst. Suitable alkylation catalysts include solid acid catalysts and preferably a solid oxide zeolite. Examples are zeolite beta, zeolite X, zeolite Y, mordenite, faujasite, zeolite omega, UZM-8, MCM-22, MCM-36, MCM-49 and MCM-56. In one embodiment, the temperature of the alkylation reactor is selected from the range of 100° C. to 310° C. (212 to 590° F.) and the pressure is selected from the range of 800 to 5100 kPa (116 to 740 psia). In a more specific embodiment the temperature is in the range of 120 to 280° C. (248 to 536° F.) and the pressure is in the range of from about 1000 to 3900 kPa (145 to 565 psia). Alkylation reactors, operating conditions and catalysts are known in the art and not further discussed here.

In alkylation reactor 2, the benzene is alkylated with the propylene to form isopropylbenzene or cumene. Some polyisopropylbenzenes, which are mainly di- and tri-substituted propylbenzenes, are also formed. Other heavy aromatic byproducts having from 16 to about 24 carbon atoms may also be formed. Benzene is fed to the alkylator in excess so that virtually all the propylene is reacted. Therefore, alkylation reactor effluent 10 contains primarily benzene, cumene and polyisopropylbenzenes.

Transalkylation reactor 4 is used to transalkylate the polyisopropylbenzene produced in the alkylation reactor and recycled in line 42 with benzene recycled in line 20 to form additional cumene. Suitable conditions and catalysts may be the same as described for the alkylation reactor. Suitable transalkylation catalysts include solid acid catalysts and preferably a solid oxide zeolite. Examples are zeolite beta, zeolite X, zeolite Y, mordenite, faujasite, zeolite omega, UZM-8, MCM-22, MCM-36, MCM-49 and MCM-56. In one embodiment, the temperature is selected from the range of 100° C. to 270° C. (212 to 518° F.) and the pressure is selected from the range of 800 to 5100 kPa (116 to 740 psia). In another more specific embodiment, the temperature is about 129° C. (264° F.) and the pressure ranges from about 1000 to 3900 kPa (145 to 565 psig). Transalkylation reactors, operating conditions and catalysts are known in the art and not further discussed here. The transalkylation effluent 12 from transalkylation reactor 4 contains primarily benzene, cumene, and polyisopropylbenzene.

Both alkylation effluent 10 and transalkylation effluent 12 are introduced to benzene column 40 for the separation of benzene from the reactor effluents. In one embodiment, the effluents are introduced at two different intermediate heights of the benzene column, with the transalkylation effluent at a location between the alkylation effluent and the benzene column overhead. The benzene column is typically operated so that the overhead stream has a pressure in the range of 34 to 103 kPa (5 to 15 psia) and a temperature in the range of 27 to 50° C. (80 to 120° F.). In another embodiment, column is operated so that the overhead stream has a pressure in the range of 41 to 69 kPa (6 to 10 psia) and a temperature in the range of 27 to 50° C. (90 to 110° F.). In yet another embodiment, the benzene column is operated so that the overhead stream has a pressure of 55 kPa (8 psia) and a temperature of 38° C. (100° F.). Benzene is driven up the column and removed as benzene column overhead 42 and as benzene side draw 20. Two benzene streams are withdrawn from the benzene column because the catalysts typically used in the alkylation reactor can tolerate some water present during the alkylation reaction, but the catalysts typically used in the transalkylation reactor are less tolerant of water. Therefore, the overhead contains benzene which may be saturated with water and is appropriate for the alkylation reactor, while the side draw contains dry benzene which is appropriate for the transalkylation reactor. A net bottoms stream comprising cumene, polyisopropylbenzene, and heavy aromatics are removed from the benzene column as benzene column net bottoms 44. Benzene column overhead 42 containing primarily benzene is passed through receiver 46 and a portion is returned in line 48 to the top portion of benzene column 40 as reflux. The remainder of the benzene stream is recycled as benzene column net overhead via line 8 to alkylation reactor 2.

The net benzene column bottoms stream 44 comprising cumene, polyisopropylbenzene, is introduced to cumene/polyisopropylbenzene dividing wall distillation column 14. Within the dividing wall distillation column are two parallel fractionation zones. A first fractionation zone occupies a large portion of the left-hand side of the mid-section of the distillation column. Note that the terms “left-hand” and “right-hand” are used herein as relative to the drawings. In actual practice the placement of the zones as to the left side or the right side of the column is not critical. This first fractionation zone is separated from a parallel second fractionation zone occupying the other half of the column cross section by a substantially fluid tight vertical wall 16. The vertical wall is not necessarily centered in the column and the two fractionation zones may differ in cross sectional area or shape. The vertical wall divides the vertical portion of the column into two parallel fractionation zones. The two zones are isolated from each other for the height of this wall, but communicate at both the top and bottom ends of the column. There is no direct vapor or liquid flow between the two fractionation zones through the dividing wall, but the upper end of the fractionation zone is open to the internal volume of the distillation column containing an undivided fractionation zone preferably having additional trays. Liquid may pass under the dividing wall at the bottom of the two fractionation sections although vapor flow is preferably restricted or controlled. Thus, vapor and liquid can freely move around the wall between the two portions of the column.

During operation, the components in the net benzene column bottoms stream 44 are separated in the first fractionation zone with the more volatile compounds moving upward out of the left-hand first fractionation zone and emerging into the undivided upper portion of the distillation column. As with the first fractionation zone, the upper end of the right-hand second zone is in open communication with the upper section of the distillation column which may optionally contain additional fractionation trays extending across the entire column cross section.

The components of net benzene column bottoms stream 44 will separate according to their boiling points or relative volatility, which is the main factor in determining separation in the distillation column. The component having a relatively low boiling point is the cumene, the desired product. The mid-range boiling component is the polyisopropylbenzene, which is to be recycled to the transalkylation reactor 4. The components having relatively high boiling points are the heavy aromatics byproducts.

The net benzene column bottoms stream 44 is introduced into a first vertical fractionation zone occupying a large portion of the left-hand side of the midsection of the dividing wall distillation column 14. The cumene present in the stream is driven upward in the first fractionation zone and enters the top section of the column where it is removed in overhead 18. Benzene in overhead 18 is removed from the top of the dividing wall column and passed through an overhead condenser 38 to form liquid delivered to receiver 22. Receiver 22 may also have vent stream 21. A liquid phase stream of cumene 26 is removed from the receiver and divided into a first portion 28 which is returned to the top of the dividing wall fractionation column as reflux and a second portion 23 which is collected as desired cumene product. A polyisopropylbenzene-rich stream may be removed from dividing wall column 14 in stream 32 which is a side draw. The polyisopropylbenzene stream 32 may be recycled to transalkylation reactor 4 for reaction with benzene to form additional cumene. As used herein the term “rich” is intended to indicate a concentration of the indicated compound or class of compounds greater than 50 and preferably greater than 75 mol percent.

The bottom of the dividing wall fractionation column 14 also comprises an undivided fractionation zone. This zone can receive liquid draining from both the first and second fractionation zones. This liquid is subjected to distillation which drives the polyisopropylbenzene and cumene upwards as vapor while concentrating the less volatile heavy aromatics into a bottoms liquid, a portion of which is removed as a net product 34. This separation is effected through the use of a reboiler 36 providing vapor to the bottom undivided fractionation zone.

In a more specific embodiment of the invention, the undivided bottom section of the dividing wall fractionation column is depicted as separated from the two parallel fractionation zones by a gas flow control or gas trap out tray located just below the bottom of the wall. A slight gap at this point allows horizontal liquid flow between the parallel fractionation zones. This tray may have liquid sealed perforations allowing the normal downward flow of liquid, but its structure is such that the upward flow of vapor is at least greatly restricted or controlled. The reflux may also be separately controlled. The tray may totally block the upward vapor flow. The use of this tray may provide a means to positively control the division of the upward gas flow between the two fractionation zones, which is a prime means of controlling performance of the two zones. The total vapor from the column bottoms, therefore, preferably routed from the column and split between two lines which feed the vapor to the bottom of the two parallel fractionation zones separately. The gas flow may be controlled by one or more flow control valves or by adjusting the relative liquid levels in the bottom of the two zones. This is described in some detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,533.

It is believed that the separation performed in the present invention would compare favorably to that achieved using a conventional scheme employing a benzene column followed by a cumene column. An investigation would most likely indicate that two conventional fractionation columns (the polyisopropylbenzene column and the cumene column) could be replaced with the dividing wall column of the present invention to provide significant benefits and costs savings. It is expected that the reboiling duty may decrease as well as the total number of required stages. Additionally, one might expect there to be a small increase in cumene recovery which translates into a smaller loss of cumene product. The total capital cost for the dividing wall column and its associated equipment, including heat exchangers, pumps, and receiving vessels, is expected to be less than the total for the columns it replaces, including the equipment associated with these columns. Several factors contribute to this cost reduction. First, as mentioned above, it is expected that the total reboiling duty may decrease as well as the total number of stages. The reduction in reboiling duty leads to a reduction in the size of the heat exchangers required for condensing and reboiling the column. In addition, the total pieces of equipment associated with a dividing fractionation wall column (including pumps, heat exchangers, and vessels) are fewer than the total required for the separate fractionation columns that it replaces. Fewer pieces of equipment for a more efficient separation will lead to a lower capital cost. The reduction in equipment count also leads to less tangible benefits. The total plot space requirement for the separation is reduced. In addition, the total inventory of hydrocarbon is reduced, thereby increasing, relatively, the inherent safety of the process unit. 

1. A cumene generation process using a dividing wall fractionation zone, said process comprising: contacting, in an alkylation zone, at least propylene and benzene and a first benzene recycle stream comprising at least benzene with an alkylation catalyst under alkylation conditions to convert at least a portion of the ethylene and benzene into cumene and form an alkylation zone effluent comprising at least benzene and cumene; contacting, in a transalkylation zone, a polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream comprising at least polyisopropylbenzene and a second benzene recycle stream comprising at least benzene with a transalkylation catalyst under transalkylation conditions to convert at least a portion of the polyisopropylbenzene and benzene into cumene and form a transalkylation zone effluent comprising at least benzene and cumene; passing the alkylation zone effluent and the transalkylation zone effluent into a benzene fractionation column operated at fractionation conditions to recover net benzene overhead thus forming the first benzene recycle stream, to separate benzene into a side draw to generate the second benzene recycle stream and to recover a net benzene column bottoms stream comprising cumene, polyisopropylbenzene and heavy aromatics wherein the transalkylation zone effluent is introduced into the benzene column at an intermediate height of the benzene column which is between an intermediate height at which the alkylation zone effluent is introduced and the first end of the benzene column; passing the net benzene column bottoms stream into a dividing wall fractionation column operated at fractionation conditions and divided into at least a first and a second parallel fractionation zone by a dividing wall, with the first and the second fractionation zones each having an upper and a lower end located within the fractionation column, with the first and second fractionation zones being in open communication at their upper ends with an undivided upper section of the fractionation column and in open communication at their lower ends with an undivided lower section of the fractionation column, and with the benzene column bottoms stream entering the column at an intermediate point of the first fractionation zone; removing a stream comprising polyisopropylbenzene from an intermediate point of the second fractionation zone of the dividing wall fractionation column to generate the polyisopropylbenzene recycle stream; removing a cumene-rich stream from the first end of the dividing wall fractionation column; and removing a heavy aromatics-rich stream from a second end of the dividing wall fractionation column.
 2. The process of claim 1 wherein the alkylation zone is operated at a pressure in the range of 800 to 5100 kPa (116 to 740 psia) and a temperature in the range of 120 to 280° C. (248 to 536° F.).
 3. The process of claim 1 wherein the transalkylation zone is operated at a pressure in the range of 800 to 5100 kPa (116 to 740 psia) and a temperature in the range of 100 to 270° C. (212 to 518° F.).
 4. The process of claim 1 wherein the benzene fractionation column is operated so that the cumene-rich stream has a pressure in the range of 34 to 103 kPa (5 to 15 psia) and a temperature in the range of 27 to 50° C. (80 to 120° F.).
 5. The process of claim 1 wherein the cumene-rich stream from the first end of the dividing wall fractionation column comprises 99.955 wt. % cumene.
 6. The process of claim 1 wherein the cumene-rich stream from the first end of the dividing wall fractionation column comprises no more than about 4 wt. ppm benzene.
 7. The process of claim 1 further comprising passing the stream comprising cumene to a phenol generation process.
 8. The process of claim 1 further comprising passing the stream comprising cumene to an acetone generation process. 